[java] sorting a List of Map<String, String>

I have a list variable created like this:

List<Map<String, String>> list = new ArrayList<Map<String, String>>();

In my Android application, this list gets populated.

just an example:

Map<String, String> map1 = new HashMap<String, String>();
map.put("name", "Josh");
...

Map<String, String> map2 = new HashMap<String, String>();
map.put("name", "Anna");
...

Map<String, String> map3 = new HashMap<String, String>();
map.put("name", "Bernie");
...

list.add(map1);
list.add(map2);
list.add(map3);

I am using list to show results in a ListView by extending BaseAdapter and implementing the various methods.

My problem: I need to sort list in alphabetical order based on the map's key name

Question: What is a simple way to sort list in alphabetical order based on the map's key name?

I can't seem to wrap my head around this. I have extracted each name from each Map into a String array, and sorted it(Arrays.sort(strArray);). But that doesn't preserve the other data in each Map, so i'm not too sure how i can preserve the other mapped values

This question is related to java android sorting

The answer is


There are many ways to solve the same. One of the easiest ways to solve using Java 8 is given below :

As per your requirement, To sort in alphabetical order based on the map's key name

1st way :

list = list.stream()
           .sorted((a,b)-> (a.get("name")).compareTo(b.get("name")))
           .collect(Collectors.toList());

Or,

list = list.stream()
           .sorted(Comparator.comparing(map->map.get("name")))
           .collect(Collectors.toList());

2nd way :

Collections.sort(list, Comparator.comparing(map -> map.get("name")));

3rd way :

list.sort(Comparator.comparing(map-> map.get("name")));

try {
        java.util.Collections.sort(data,
                new Comparator<Map<String, String>>() {
                    SimpleDateFormat sdf = new SimpleDateFormat(
                            "MM/dd/yyyy");

                    public int compare(final Map<String, String> map1,
                            final Map<String, String> map2) {
                        Date date1 = null, date2 = null;
                        try {
                            date1 = sdf.parse(map1.get("Date"));
                            date2 = sdf.parse(map2.get("Date"));
                        } catch (ParseException e) {
                            e.printStackTrace();
                        }
                        if (date1.compareTo(date2) > 0) {
                            return +1;
                        } else if (date1.compareTo(date2) == 0) {
                            return 0;
                        } else {
                            return -1;
                        }
                    }
                });

    } catch (Exception e) {

    }


You need to create a comparator. I am not sure why each value needs its own map but here is what the comparator would look like:

class ListMapComparator implements Comparator {
    public int compare(Object obj1, Object obj2) {
         Map<String, String> test1 = (Map<String, String>) obj1;
         Map<String, String> test2 = (Map<String, String>) obj2;
         return test1.get("name").compareTo(test2.get("name"));
    }
}

You can see it working with your above example with this:

public class MapSort {
    public List<Map<String, String>> testMap() {
         List<Map<String, String>> list = new ArrayList<Map<String, String>>();
         Map<String, String> myMap1 = new HashMap<String, String>();
         myMap1.put("name", "Josh");
         Map<String, String> myMap2 = new HashMap<String, String>();
         myMap2.put("name", "Anna");

         Map<String, String> myMap3 = new HashMap<String, String>();
         myMap3.put("name", "Bernie");


         list.add(myMap1);
         list.add(myMap2);
         list.add(myMap3);

         return list;
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
         MapSort ms = new MapSort();
         List<Map<String, String>> testMap = ms.testMap();
         System.out.println("Before Sort: " + testMap);
         Collections.sort(testMap, new ListMapComparator());
         System.out.println("After Sort: " + testMap);
    }
}

You will have some type safe warnings because I did not worry about these. Hope that helps.


@Test
public void testSortedMaps() {
    Map<String, String> map1 = new HashMap<String, String>();
    map1.put("name", "Josh");

    Map<String, String> map2 = new HashMap<String, String>();
    map2.put("name", "Anna");

    Map<String, String> map3 = new HashMap<String, String>();
    map3.put("name", "Bernie");

    List<Map<String, String>> mapList = new ArrayList<Map<String, String>>();
    mapList.add(map1);
    mapList.add(map2);
    mapList.add(map3);

    Collections.sort(mapList, new Comparator<Map<String, String>>() {
        public int compare(final Map<String, String> o1, final Map<String, String> o2) {
            return o1.get("name").compareTo(o2.get("name"));
        }
    });

    Assert.assertEquals("Anna", mapList.get(0).get("name"));
    Assert.assertEquals("Bernie", mapList.get(1).get("name"));
    Assert.assertEquals("Josh", mapList.get(2).get("name"));

}

Not really an answer to your question but I had a requirement to sort a List of maps by its values' properties, this will work in your case too:

List<Map<String, Object>> sortedListOfMaps = someListOfMaps.sorted(Comparator.comparing(map -> ((String) map.get("someKey")))).collect(Collectors.toList()))

You should implement a Comparator<Map<String, String>> which basically extracts the "name" value from the two maps it's passed, and compares them.

Then use Collections.sort(list, comparator).

Are you sure a Map<String, String> is really the best element type for your list though? Perhaps you should have another class which contains a Map<String, String> but also has a getName() method?


Bit out of topic
this is a little util for watching sharedpreferences
based on upper answers
may be for someone this will be helpful

@SuppressWarnings("unused")
public void printAll() {
    Map<String, ?> prefAll = PreferenceManager
        .getDefaultSharedPreferences(context).getAll();
    if (prefAll == null) {
        return;
    }
    List<Map.Entry<String, ?>> list = new ArrayList<>();
    list.addAll(prefAll.entrySet());
    Collections.sort(list, new Comparator<Map.Entry<String, ?>>() {
        public int compare(final Map.Entry<String, ?> entry1, final Map.Entry<String, ?> entry2) {
            return entry1.getKey().compareTo(entry2.getKey());
        }
    });
    Timber.i("~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~");
    Timber.i("Printing all sharedPreferences");
    for(Map.Entry<String, ?> entry : list) {
        Timber.i("%s: %s", entry.getKey(), entry.getValue());
    }
    Timber.i("~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~");
}

if you want to make use of lamdas and make it a bit easier to read

  List<Map<String,String>> results;

  Comparator<Map<String,String>> sortByName = Comparator.comparing(x -> x.get("Name"));

  public void doSomething(){
    results.sort(sortByName)
  }

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